Photograph

Kickapoo Indian Medicine Company

Touring shows such as these spread racist stereotypes of American Indians, portraying them as purer and simpler people than Euro-Americans.

The Kickapoo Indian Medicine Company of Connecticut was an extremely successful touring show that entertained and sold some genuine medicine and some fake concoctions under the guise of Indian cure-alls. Men dressed as Native Americans from the Great Plains wear large feather headdresses, posed with white men and children sitting under the stage/tent.

These shows did not employ Kickapoo people (from the Plains). They hired Iroquois and other New England Native Americans, as the company was based in Connecticut. Some people they hired were considered medicine men, but many were not. The performances were more akin to Wild West Shows but sold products rooted in Western beliefs of Indigenous purity and natural health and constitution.

1892

1800s, 1900s

Gentieu, Pierre A., 1842-1930

8"x10"
600 x 480 px

Hagley Museum & Library

https://digital.hagley.org/islandora/object/islandora:1980842

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https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/the-kickapoo-indian-medicine-company-of-new-haven-entertains-the-masses-but-doesnt-cure-them/

Reasons for Resistance